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That babe who adored her parents grew into a rebellious teen that disrespected them. It wasn’t overnight. It was a million small steps away. It was one tiny sin at a time.
Attempts at redirection failed because I refused to be taught, and worse, I refused to be loved. My mother grievously gave me over to my selfish desires. She withdrew her protection and allowed me to suffer the consequences of my sinful choices, with a desperate hope I’d find Jesus at the bottom of my pit.
I look into your sweet face and know the same spirit of rebellion that rose up in me is active in you, because it is active in all of us.
I pray that your heart remains soft to the prodding of God, sensitive to His correction and desirous of pleasing Him. I pray you are spared the degradation of God giving you over to your sin. You think it can’t happen, but it can. Our loving Father will ultimately let you choose your path — even if it is the path to destruction.
God, in His great mercy, called me back to Him, but those rebellious years haunt. The wounds I inflicted upon my family rent my heart. The nails my sin pounded into Christ’s flesh crush my spirit. Yet, He called me back.
As long as there was breath in my lungs, there was opportunity for salvation. God wishes that none would perish, but that all would come to repentance. That is His wish for me, His wish for you.
So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.
PSALM 81:12 NLT
